The year 2021 is approaching, and the transition period of the UK's Brexit is coming to an end. At that time, the EU regulations will no longer apply to the UK. Then, where will the far-reaching EU environmental protection regulations go in the UK?
REACH Regulation
From January 1, 2021, the REACH regulation of the United Kingdom will replace that of the European Union. Companies exporting substances, mixtures or articles to the UK and the EU will be required to fulfill the obligations conferred by these two laws respectively. According to the statement of the British government, the UK REACH will maintain the goals and principles of the EU REACH, which include:
- The principle of "no data, no market"
- The "last resort" principle in animal experiments
- The principle of information transmission
- Prevention principle
POPs Regulations
The current EU regulations on persistent organic Pollutants (POPs) manage and enforce the Stockholm International Convention Agreement on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Protocol to the Convention on Long-Distance Transboundary Air Pollution from Persistent Organic Pollutants (CLRTAP, 1979). The POPs regulations in the UK have inherited those of the EU and will remain in their current form after January 1, 2021. The UK's POPs regulations will also revise the list of restricted and prohibited substances in the annex to the regulations in accordance with the decisions made at the last Stockholm Convention meeting.
CE marking and UCKA marking
The UKCA mark is a new UK-compliant product mark that will be used for goods sold in the UK (England, Wales and Scotland) market. The UKCA marking is applicable to most products that currently require the CE marking. The UKCA mark has been in use since January 1, 2021. However, to allow enterprises time to adapt to the new requirements, in most cases, enterprises can still use the CE marking before January 1, 2022. In some cases, enterprises will need to apply the new UKCA marking to goods sold in the UK immediately as of January 1, 2021. We encourage relevant enterprises to use the UKCA mark as soon as possible before this date.
From January 1, 2022, the CE marking will no longer be recognized in the UK. However, products with the CE marking can still be sold in the UK as long as they also have the UKCA marking and comply with the relevant regulations of the UK. Meanwhile, medical devices have different applicable rules.
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